Geese Are Always Trophies

By Kyle Wintersteen, Contributing Writer

The half dozen geese crested the oaks and slammed on the brakes, the drag of their primary feathers audibly slicing the crisp January air. So unexpected was their arrival that a few friends and I had but a meager spread of mallards arranged on the narrow, spring-fed Pennsylvania slough. But the geese—big, local Canadas exceedingly long in the wing—were coming anyway. They made a single pass with nary a honk and promptly landed 30 yards to our right before thumbs could reach safeties. My friend Jake Kraybill had never shot a goose and, as the birds had conveniently landed off his end, we encouraged him to shoot one. He decided to indulge us.

With a simple, “Hey geese!” Jake flushed the birds and dumped one.

Now, I’ve seen singles and the occasional pair of geese do dumb things, but none of us foresaw the next event: Rather than taking any number of easy escape routes, the five remaining birds turned and flew directly to our guns. No time to switch loads. We opened up on them at close range with Nos. 2 and 4, and soon we’d felled the lot of them. There was no hooting and hollering, as television hosts seem intent on convincing us is appropriate. For a moment all was silent. Smiles and a few chuckles ensued. We couldn’t believe our good fortune.

I’ve rarely just lucked into geese in that fashion, and even less commonly seen them act with such irrational panic. They are intelligent birds, far smarter than ducks and, I believe, at least equal in wits to the wild turkey—could a wary gobbler spot movement as well as a goose if it had to do so while circling a spread?

Geese, in general, require great effort to kill with consistency. It sounds simple: Find where they eat; find where they sleep; put out some decoys. But “feed” and “roost” sites are ever-changing, and there’s no substitute for hunters who know how to follow the birds and have the courage to knock on farmers’ doors. The best goose hunters are as good with a handshake as a short-reed call.

These days it seems more geese are shot over grain fields than anything else. Agriculture has helped fuel booming resident populations and tends toward more consistent, higher-volume shooting. But there’s something about hunting geese over water I more enjoy. In part because crops are a man-made habitat, but it also owes to the satisfying smack of a goose meeting water—a sound that convinces the soul that surely this is how God intended geese to be shot.

More often than not, geese confound me even when success seems imminent. So, I regard every goose taken within ethical bounds as a trophy, even those that perhaps should’ve gotten away. Such was the case on that cold morning when Jake shot his first goose. Per our tradition, he was required to haul all six birds out of the marsh. He loaded them into an under-sized duck strap, draped it over the back of his neck and began the long waddle. Never has a hunter smiled more proudly while weighted down by 70 pounds of Canada goose.

A Shed Hunter's Trophy Tips

by Mark Kayser

Hold off on shed hunting as long as possible.

Early searching could force animals to move into new areas off-limits to you, making shed antlers unavailable. Plus, pressure on wintering animals causes them undue stress when they are most vulnerable after surviving a long winter.

Game can drop antlers at any moment,

so look for sheds near food and bedding cover, and trails connecting the two. Crops like corn, soybean and winter wheat, and pastures that haven't received grazing pressure attract hungry big game.

Since big game spends considerable time

on south-facing slopes it makes sense that a higher percentage of antlers are dropped there. Southern slopes attract game looking for protection from brisk north winds. They also provide the best locations to soak up warm winter rays.

For the biggest sheds,

look for out-of-the-way micro environments offering isolation, thick cover and a nearby food source. Although the bulk of shed antlers will be near traditional locations, such as high-energy food sources or on south-facing slopes, mature animals don't always follow the crowd. Trophy animals like to detach themselves from the herd.

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1.7M

The number of hunters who pursued squirrels in 2011 for a combined 21 million days afield, ranking squirrel hunting as the No. 1 choice in small-game hunting.

16%

Percentage of hunters who pursue squirrels every fall, ranking third behind whitetail deer and wild turkeys.

26%

Minnesota hunters took an average of 7.8 squirrels each in 1999-2000 and 9.8 squirrels in 2010-2011—a 26 percent increase.

fast fact

The cackling goose, a smaller-bodied goose prominent in Canada and Alaska, is a tundra-breeder with considerably more black plumage than the Canada. At one time, the cackling goose was considered the smallest subspecies of the Canada, but is now recognized as a separate species.